Meet The Candidates: Laura Ahearn For New York State Senate

This November, Long Island residents will be hitting the polls to exercise their right to vote. While voters will be electing the president on Election Day, November 3, they will also be choosing their local representatives. In New York, state and federal races will also be on the ballot.

Democrat Laura Ahearn, 57, of Port Jefferson, is running for a seat in the 1st Senate District held by retiring New York State Senator Kenneth LaValle for 44 years.

The 1st New York State Senate district covers the five East End towns and the eastern portion of Brookhaven Town.

Ahearn is facing off with Republican incumbent New York State Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo for the seat.

Ahearn, who is married with two adult children, has a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Dowling College, a Masters Degree in Social Work from Stony Brook School of Social Welfare a Juris Doctorate from Touro Law School, and is a disaster mental health responder. She is an attorney in private practice and Executive Director of the Crime Victims Center/Parents for Megan's Law.

In anticipation of the election, Patch asked candidates in the contested races to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as Election Day draws near.

Check out the full Q&A below:

Why are you seeking elective office?

I am not a politician seeking a job or a political promotion. I am an experienced attorney, social worker, small business owner, and victim and community advocate who has for nearly 25 years protected our most vulnerable and delivered for Suffolk County. I would like your support so that I can use my 25 years of advocacy experience, my legislative skills, and my legal skills to fight for our fair share from Albany and for what is important to us in SD1.

The single most pressing issue facing our nation/state/community is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Our economic condition is the most pressing issue facing our state and nation because it has an impact on everything that is important to us: healthcare; education; our drinking and surface water, environment and combatting climate change; public safety and holding the line on taxes. America recovers from fiscal crisis when we invest in our infrastructure, which can create good-paying green jobs as we transition to a carbon-free environment. However, our nation's elected officials have become so polarized that they are unable to get the people's work done. We must work together to ensure New York gets its fair share from the federal government.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidate seeking this post?

I am the only candidate who has a near 25 year history of delivering for Suffolk County. I’m a New York State licensed social worker, a practicing attorney, a military mom, and the executive director of the Suffolk Crime Victims Center. For nearly 25 years I have fought to keep us safe and provided vital services to those in need including to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking, hate crime, gang violence and elderly, minor, and disabled victims.

I supported passage of the NY Woman's Equality Act and the NY Reproductive Health Act which my opponent Assemblyman Palumbo voted against. I support a woman having control over her body and received a 100 percent score from Planned Parenthood. My opponent received a 50 percent score in 2020.

I support legislation which provides easy access to voting which my opponent voted against in 2020. He voted against early voting, same day registration, pre-registration of 16 and 17 year olds, and statewide voter registration transfer.

I support New York's climate change mitigation and resiliency plans, protecting our groundwater and surface water and protecting our natural resources. My opponent has received a score of a "D" for three years in a row with the NY League of Conservation Voters.

I am a Democrat and will be running on the Democratic and Protect the Taxpayer lines. If elected I will join the majority in the New York State Senate which will allow me to carry legislation through passage. My opponent is a Republican in the minority and will be unable to carry legislation through passage.

I have been endorsed by numerous labor unions, women's organizations, elected officials and many others. My endorsements are as follows:
The New York State Independence Party
The AFL-CIO
The Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk
The Sierra Club
Emily’s List
Eleanor’s Legacy Baker Project
IBEW Local 25 (Int’l Brotherhood of Electrical Engineers)
IBEW Local 1048
LiUNA! (Laborers International Union of America)
NOW - National Organization for Women
Planned Parenthood
New York State Federation of Democratic Women
United Auto Workers (UAW)
LGBTQ Progressives of Suffolk County
Voters for Animal Rights
32 BJ
PEF (Public Employee Federation)
National Institute for Reproductive Health
The Steamfitters Local 638
Communication Workers of America (CWA District 1 and Local 1108)
Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union (RWDSU), UFCW
National Women's Political Caucus - New York and Long Island
New York State Retired School Administrators and Supervisors (NYSRSAS)
Moms Demand Action
Ironworkers Local 361
Iron Workers Local 197 Stone Derrickmen & Riggers
Metallic Lathers & Reinforcing Iron Workers. Local 46
Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers. Local 580
Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 252,
SMART, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers
US Senator Chuck Schumer
US Senator Kirstin Gillibrand
New York State Comptroller Tom P. DiNapoli
New York State Senator Todd Kaminsky
New York State Senator Anna Kaplan
New York State SenatorJohn Brooks
New York State Senator Monica Martinez
New York State SenatorJames Gaughran
New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright
Suffolk County Presiding Officer Robert Calarco
Suffolk County Presiding Officer Kara Hahn
Former Suffolk County Legislator Kate Browning

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

Senate District 1 needs an experienced leader like me who can help us heal, rebuild our economy, and re-unite us. The COVID-19 pandemic is responsible for taking over 2,200 lives in Suffolk County and has placed our county and state in a fiscal crisis. Even before COVID we were losing our fair share in Albany and now we have to fight even harder. First and foremost we must act responsibly to preserve life by getting medical professionals, law enforcement, and workers the tests and supply of protective equipment they need, extend unemployment benefits for those that need, ensure quality healthcare access for all, get Suffolk’s small businesses the help they need, and support so we all come back from this nightmare pandemic stronger.

Second, we must protect and preserve our environment, our groundwater, surface water, and estuaries and address climate change mitigation and resiliency. We must transition to a renewable sustainable carbon free economy and that starts with implementing the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The Act sets standards to reduce our carbon emissions in the higher polluting sectors such as transportation and electricity generation. The NYS Offshore Wind Project will help us transition from fossil fuels to renewable sustainable energy.

I am committed to promoting an economy that works for all of us by investing in our infrastructure to create good paying green jobs and keeping us safe by ensuring police are not defunded but instead provided the training and resources needed. I will prioritize spending on education to ensure students, teachers and parents are able to thrive in the new academic environment, and ensure equity in education, health care, housing, and criminal justice.
I am also committed to holding the line on taxes, revitalizing our downtowns and creating affordable workforce transit based housing , tax relief for seniors and veterans, fair wages, protecting workers by ensuring safe work environments, combatting gang violence and the opioid epidemic, reforming bail reform to give judges judicial discretion to keep violent offenders off our streets, and fighting for victim and community rights.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I am an attorney, a social worker, a military mom, and the executive director of the Crime Victims Center/Parents for Megan's Law (CVC). For nearly 25 years I have fought to keep us safe and have provided vital services to the community including to victims of child and adult sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking, hate crime, gang violence victims and veterans, the elderly, and disabled victims of all crime.

Over 20 years ago I founded the CVC from a room in my home and built it to become an agency employing nearly 30 full-time staff who provide help and services to victims and our most vulnerable. I have a track record of developing and implementing problem-solving community based programs aimed at targeting specific issues and working with stakeholders we have seen remarkable results including reducing sex offender recidivism, partnering with the legislature and law enforcement in a program which reduced domestic violence arrests, helping facilitate the return of over $6 million to crime victims, and educating nearly 200,000 children and adults.

When Albany attorneys told me I could not pass certain laws to give our most vulnerable a voice, I went to law school at night for five years while working full-time to learn how to pass those laws. I graduated top of my class and received the Martin Schwartz Award for Excellence in Civil Rights for my work in the community. I now have nearly 25 years of experience drafting and helping pass legislation on a local (town), county, state, and federal level. Working with stakeholders in the county I also developed and implement the problem solving court training series in the legal systems subcommittee of the Family Violence Task Force to provide law enforcement and other stakeholders with knowledge to steer folks into problem solving courts like the Drug Court where they can get the treatment they need.

I’m a fierce advocate, a leader, and I am dedicated. My 25-year track record is evidence that I have delivered for Suffolk and would be honored to fight for you and for our fair share in Albany.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

The best way to predict your future is to create it.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I am a Suffolk County Disaster Mental Health responder and responded after 911 to provide support to survivors and surviving family members.

I am an avid angler and fish both salt (boat and shore) and fresh water (spin and fly). My favorite fishing is fluke in saltwater, largemouth bass and perch in freshwater lakes, and king salmon in Salmon River. I keep only what I will eat. My biggest catch was an 8-foot, 300 pound blue marlin in Mexico which, of course, I released.